German family minister demands 32-hour working week for parents

Germany’s minister for families has called for shorter working hours for parents with young children.

Manuela Schwesig said Germany could subsidise couples €300 (£250) a month to work shorter hours so that neither partner had to give up their career for childcare.

Under the proposals, the working week would be cut to 32 hours for parents of children under the age of eight. Couples would receive a state subsidy for up to two years.

I want to make young parents an offer that enables them both to commit themselves with the same intensity to childcare and to their careersManuela Schwesig

“The clear majority of young parents want to share childcare, house work and careers 50-50,” Ms Schwesig told Bild newspaper.

“I want to make young parents an offer that enables them both to commit themselves with the same intensity to childcare and to their careers.”

Ms Schwesig said the proposal would cost the German taxpayer “less than €1bn (£830m)” a year.

Germans already have some of the shortest working hours in the world, with an average working week of just 36 hours, and remain fiercely protective of their weekends and holiday time.

The country maintains its famous high productivity despite spending far less time in the office than most of its neighbours — in part by being rigorously disciplined during working hours.

But as elsewhere, longer working hours have begun to creep into Germany in recent years, with many people working far more than their official hours.

Ms Schwesig’s proposal comes amid changing social practices. The country has long abandoned the traditional belief that a woman’s role is Kinder, Küche, Kirche — or children, the kitchen and the church.

But many German women still give up their careers or go part-time in order to care for their children, according to government figures.

A recent census showed that in 44 per cent of families, the father has a full-time job while the mother works part-time.

Both partners work full-time in 17 per cent of cases. In only 2 per cent of families are both partners able to work part-time.

It is not clear whether Ms Schwesig’s proposals will be adopted by the government. Although this is the first time Ms Schwesig has spelt out her plans, she has called for an adjustment in working hours for families before.

On that occasion, Angela Merkel’s office swiftly slapped her down, issuing a press statement that Ms Schwesig’s proposal was just a “personal contribution to the debate”.